Cowichan case blamed for sinking B.C. property deals, including luxury hotel purchase

Court documents show that the 14-storey Versante Hotel was instead bought by a Hong Kong purchaser in October for the lower price of $51.5 million.

An Ontario company that put down a deposit to buy a luxury hotel in Richmond, B.C., pulled out of the deal worth tens of millions of dollars weeks later because of “uncertainty” caused by the landmark Cowichan Tribes Aboriginal title ruling, according to the marketers of the property.

Court documents show that the 14-storey Versante Hotel, close to Vancouver International Airport, was instead bought by a Hong Kong purchaser in October for the lower price of $51.5 million.

The exact value of the withdrawn offer isn’t disclosed in documents related to the court-ordered sale, which was compelled by lenders to the project who said they were owed $113 million as of August.

Commercial real estate firm Colliers says in a letter to the hotel’s receiver, Deloitte,  that it had received the previous offer from “an established hotel operator” from Ontario on July 29, and it was accepted on the basis of price and terms.

But nine days later, on Aug. 7, the  B.C. Supreme Court confirmed that the Cowichan Tribes hold Aboriginal title over about 300 hectares of land on the Fraser River.

On Aug. 18, the Ontario hotel firm pulled its offer for the Versante and asked for its deposit to be returned.

“Their stated concern was the recent Cowichan Tribes court ruling, which introduced uncertainty around land title ownership and potential precedent risk,” says Colliers’ letter, which is part of a receiver’s report.

It’s not the only major deal in Richmond said to have been sunk by the ruling, with the biggest owner of private land in the title area also blaming the case for the failure of two projects. The Versante is not in the Cowichan title area.